Avoid drowning in water damage expenses
Allowing a small water drip from your faucet can save you from frozen pipes and thousands of dollars in water damage. A drip doesn't always prevent freezing, but with water moving through your pipes, ice is less likely to form. There’s also less pressure in your pipes, so they’re less likely to burst if they freeze. Learn when and how to drip faucets in your home and whether you should drip hot or cold water.
Knowing when to drip a faucet can prevent frozen and burst pipes if you turn on the correct faucets before or soon after the temperature drops.
If temperatures will be below 20 degrees Fahrenheit for at least three hours or your power goes out in the winter, plan to drip your faucets. Ideally, you want to drip your faucets before the cold strikes, or within the first two hours.
Even if the inside of your home doesn't fall to 20 degrees, pipes located in unheated areas such as the basement, attic, garage, and crawl spaces—or in exterior walls with minimal insulation—can still freeze.
Besides dripping a faucet, it’s important to prep your home for cold temps and possible power outages to ensure your pipes don’t freeze and burst. While dripping a faucet can prevent freezing, there are other steps you should take to prevent frozen pipes.
Based on your home, its unique vulnerabilities, and insulation, here are some ways to ready your home and pipes for freezing weather:
Close your garage door if you have water supply lines in the garage.
Open your kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to surround your pipes and plumbing. Remember to keep toxic chemicals and cleaners down there out of reach of children and pets.
Keep your home's temperature at 55 degrees or warmer, even if you’re not at home.
Insulate indoor and outdoor water supply lines and pipes, especially in unheated areas such as the basement, attic, crawl spaces, and garage.
Consider adding insulation on exterior walls with pipes.
Drain your swimming pool and water sprinkler supply lines before winter.
You should drip a faucet that’s farthest away from your home’s water source, but to err on the side of caution you should drip faucets in all rooms with plumbing. For example, you may want to drip the kitchen faucet as well as the bathroom faucets. Any branch of your water pipe system has the possibility of freezing, so dripping more faucets reduces the chance of freezing and bursting pipes.
Consider dripping these faucets:
Faucet farthest away from your home’s water source
Faucet that attaches to exposed pipes, such as those in your basement or attic
Faucet that attaches to pipes in exterior walls that have little insulation
Faucets or shower heads in each room to ensure each pipe has a drip
The small increase in your water bill for running a drip is likely less than $1 a month. This minimal cost is worth saving potentially thousands of dollars in water damage costs. A small crack in a pipe can spray hundreds of gallons of water into your home.
Wondering whether to drip hot or cold water? Turn on the cold water of your faucet to create a small, steady drip with drops falling approximately every three seconds. Hot water comes through a separate pipe and is less likely to freeze, so a cold water drip is recommended.
If your water pipes for both hot and cold water are exposed, or your power is out along with your water heater, drip both hot and cold water to prevent either line from freezing.
Leave your faucet dripping until temperatures are consistently above 20 degrees. The continual drip helps keep your pipes safe during cold temperatures and during the thawing of any frozen pipes. When the ice thaws, your water has a place to go, rather than bursting your pipes due to pent-up pressure.
Even if you leave a drip on during freezing temperatures, it's possible to still have frozen pipes. Look for signs of frozen pipes and take action to prevent costly water damage.
If you suspect frozen pipes, turn off the main water valve to your house right away and call a plumber. In most cases, if your water pipes freeze, they also burst as water expands when it freezes. By shutting off the water supply, you can avoid leaks and water damage until the plumber arrives.
The plumber will inspect your pipes for cracks and make repairs before turning your water back on. The cost of a plumber is often hundreds or thousands of dollars less than dealing with water damage.
If you stay away from home for long periods of time during cold months, consider draining your pipes and leaving your water valve off. You can avoid frozen pipes and leaks while you're away without having to leave a drip on.
Dripping your faucets is simple, but there are a few mistakes that could leave your pipes vulnerable to freezing:
Dripping hot water only: Remember that cold water pipes are more likely to freeze. If you only drip hot water, your cold pipes will remain at risk.
Not dripping enough faucets: Dripping just one faucet may not protect your entire plumbing system. Be sure to drip faucets in each area of your home, especially those connected to pipes in exterior walls or unheated spaces.
Closing cabinet doors: If your faucets are dripping in your kitchen or bathroom, keeping the cabinet doors open allows more warm air to circulate around the pipes.
Dripping too much water: A slow, steady drip is all you need. Leaving your faucets running with a heavy stream is wasteful and unnecessarily increases your water bill.
Forgetting to check for freezing pipes: Even with a drip, your pipes can still freeze, especially in extreme weather conditions. Check them regularly for signs of freezing, such as reduced water flow or strange sounds when using the faucet.
Remember that dripping your faucets won’t always prevent freezing, but it can minimize the risks when done right.
You can drip faucets yourself without hiring a plumber, as the project requires no tools and takes five minutes or less. If you think your pipes have frozen or burst, leave the drip on, turn off your home’s water supply at the main shut-off valve, and contact a local plumber. A plumber will inspect and repair your pipes, helping you avoid flooding and costly water damage.
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